Mesh networks are a type of network which nodes often have several functions. In addition to their primary function as a sensor, actuator, of other device, these nodes may also serve as routers, helping move traffic between two other nodes in the network. Mesh networks can grow quite large, often having over 100, or in some case over 1000 nodes, most of which are also routers.
While mesh networks tend to be robust, since there are often multiple paths between any two nodes, there are drawbacks as well. For example, with such a large number of nodes, it becomes impractical for each node to know the most efficient path to every other node in the network. Consequently, these mesh networks often utilize one or more route discovery protocols. Regardless of the protocol used, information concerning the topology of the network must be disseminated throughout the network. Depending on the number of routers in the mesh network, the amount of information required to fully describe the network topology may be very large.
It is also necessary to maintain information on the properties of individual links, both inherent, such as reliability, and protocol-dependent, such as initalization status. This requires that additional information be shared between nodes and stored on each of these nodes. This normally entails the use of a separate protocol and additional messages.
In addition, network information, such as the location of specific services, and other data, needs to be shared throughout the mesh network. Currently, all of this information is disseminated using different protocols, each using its own messages and data formats. All of these messages and protocols create network traffic, which consumes valuable bandwidth.
Therefore, it would be beneficial if there was a different method of disseminating information throughout a mesh network such that all routers were aware of all of the information related to that mesh network. Such a method would minimize the number of route discovery messages and other overhead traffic that currently travels on the mesh network.